The 2007 Georgia Bulldogs football team represented the University of Georgia as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Mark Richt, the Bulldogs compiled an overall record of 11–2 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, sharing the SEC's Eastern Division title with Tennessee. Based on a head-to-head win over Georgia, Tennessee advanced to the SEC Championship Game. Georgia was invited to the Sugar Bowl, where the Bulldogs defeated Hawaii. The team played home games at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.
Georgia opened the season with an impressive win at home against Oklahoma State, but failed to score a touchdown the following week in a loss to South Carolina. The Bulldogs rebounded against Western Carolina and enjoyed an overtime victory on September 22 at Alabama. Other high moments during the season were the upset win against Florida, 42–30, and the win against Auburn, 45–20, as Georgia wore black jerseys for the first time. The season ended on a high note as the Bulldogs defeated the undefeated Hawaii Warriors and their high-potent offense led by record-setting quarterback Colt Brennan in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, 41–10.
Schedule Before the season, CNNSI.com ranked the Georgia UGA schedule as the 14th-hardest in the country.
Rankings
Preseason Two key players from the 2006 season, defensive end Charles Johnson and running back Danny Ware, decided to leave school early to enter the NFL draft. Another junior, defensive back Paul Oliver, considered a move to the NFL, but decided to return to the Bulldogs for his senior year. Despite coming back for his senior year, Oliver became academically ineligible and decided to enter the supplemental draft. The Bulldogs were led on offense by rising sophomore quarterback Matthew Stafford. Sean Bailey and Mohammed Massaquoi led the receivers with Thomas Brown at running back. The defense saw the emergence of Asher Allen and Kelin Johnson in the secondary. In addition, Dannell Ellerbe was the leader of the linebackers while Geno Atkins and Jeff Owens anchored the defensive line.
Game summaries Oklahoma State
Sophomore quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns as the Bulldogs cruised past the Cowboys from the Big 12 in a much-hyped season opener. Georgia won its first game of the season for an 11th consecutive season.
South Carolina
The Gamecocks took a 7-0 lead on their first drive of the game and used stifling defense to hold off the Bulldogs the rest of the way. It was Georgia's first loss in the series since 2001, and the team's fifth consecutive loss to SEC East opponents, dating back to the 2006 season.
Western Carolina
After a slow start, the Dawgs exploded for 42 points in the final three quarters to bounce back with a win over the 1-AA Catamounts. Freshman running back Knowshon Moreno rushed for 94 yards on 13 carries.
Alabama
In a virtual must-win situation, the Dawgs avoided an 0-2 start in SEC play by escaping Bryant–Denny Stadium with an overtime win. Matthew Stafford connected with senior wide receiver Mikey Henderson on the Bulldogs' first play from scrimmage in OT for the winning score.
(As a footnote, this would be the last game Mark Richt won as head coach of Georgia against the Alabama Crimson Tide, as well as the last time until the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship that UGA would defeat Alabama.)
Ole Miss
Running back Thomas Brown rushed for a career-high 180 yds and three touchdowns in the fifth straight win against Western Division opponents.
Tennessee
Georgia suffered its worst loss since the 2003 Southeastern Conference championship, a 34-13 loss to LSU, and coach Mark Richt's first loss at Tennessee. The Bulldogs had won their last three games at Neyland, Tennessee's home stadium.NCAA Football - Georgia Bulldogs/Tennessee Volunteers Recap Saturday October 6, 2007 - Yahoo! Sports
Vanderbilt
Senior kicker Brandon Coutu drilled a 37-yard field goal as time expired to give Georgia its second road win of the season, both coming on the game's final play. The Dawgs outscored Vanderbilt 13-0 in the second half to rally from a 17-7 halftime deficit.
Florida
Behind Knowshon Moreno's 188 yards (3 touchdowns) and Stafford's 223 yards passing (3 touchdowns), the Dawgs ended their hex against the rival Gators, who had won 15 of the last 17 games in the series. The game was notable for an all team end-zone celebration following Georgia's first touchdown scored on their opening drive. The team celebration was penalized twice and set the tone for a hard fought game.
Troy
Knowshon Moreno had another huge game, rushing for 196 yards and three touchdowns, as the Bulldogs avoided a post-Florida hangover with a 10-point win over the pesky Trojans from the Sun Belt.
Auburn
Georgia had their way in The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry for the second consecutive year behind a balanced offensive attack, with 237 yards passing from Matthew Stafford and 180 combined yards on the ground. The Tigers allowed their most points in a game for the entire season to Georgia for the third straight year. It was also the first game in which the Bulldogs wore their black jerseys.
Kentucky
The Dawgs had to shake off the rust after falling behind 10-0 early and did just that by scoring 24 of the game's final 27 points to complete the SEC schedule at 6-2. Georgia ran their winning streak over the Wildcats in Athens to 15 games.
Georgia Tech
Georgia tied a school-record with its seventh-consecutive win in the series of their rivals from Atlanta. Thomas Brown ran for 139 yards, unlike Moreno, who struggled and left the game with an ankle injury. The Georgia defense allowed just 12 completions on 32 pass attempts by the Yellow Jackets.
Hawaii—Sugar Bowl
Georgia controlled both sides of the line of scrimmage and completely outmanned the undefeated Western Athletic Conference champs from the beginning of the game to the end. The Bulldogs' previously unheralded defensive end Marcus Howard dominated the Warrior offensive line and was named the game's Most Valuable Player. This is only the second time a defensive player has been named MVP in the Sugar Bowl's history. The last defensive player to be named MVP was Walt Yowarsky, who played tackle for Kentucky, in 1951.
Final ranking The Associated Press final poll lists the Bulldogs ranked 2nd (behind national champion LSU) - the highest ranking since December 6, 1982, and the highest final season ranking since the National Championship year of 1980. Buoyed by three first place votes, the Bulldogs barely outpaced the third ranked USC program. 2007 marks the eleventh consecutive final AP poll which the Bulldogs ranked in the top 25, the current longest active streak. The Bulldogs have been ranked 30 times in the final poll including 14 Top-10 and 9 Top-5 rankings.
The final USA Today poll listed the Bulldogs ranked 3rd (behind LSU and USC) – which ties the highest ranking ever in that poll (set in the final 2002 poll).
Personnel Coaching staff The 2007 season was Richt's seventh season at Georgia. Neil Callaway, Georgia's offensive coordinator from 2001 to 2006, left at the end of 2006 to become the head coach at University of Alabama at Birmingham. Richt named former UGA quarterback Mike Bobo as the new offensive coordinator. Bobo took over play calling responsibilities during the Georgia Tech game as well as in the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl. Callaway also served as the offensive line coach. Stacy Searels, offensive line coach at LSU from 2003 to 2006, was named to the same position at Georgia to replace Callaway.
Roster 2007 Georgia Bulldogs by PositionQuarterbacks 7 Matthew Stafford – Sophomore 14 Joe Cox – Sophomore 15 Blake Barnes – Junior 16 Charles Stanford II 17 Jonathan deLaureal – Freshman 19 Logan Gray – Freshman Running backs 6 Kregg Lumpkin – Senior 20 Thomas Brown – Senior 22 Caleb King – Freshman 23 Corry Parker – Freshman 24 Knowshon Moreno – Freshman 33 Kalvin Daniels – Freshman 37 Cortney Newmans – Freshman 29 Cedric Lang – " Freshman" 39 Jason Johnson – Senior
Fullbacks 35 Nick Stiles – Freshman 36 Brannan Southerland – Junior 48 Fred Munzenmaier – Freshman 49 Shaun Chapas – Freshman
Wide receivers 1 Mohamed Massaquoi – Junior 4 Sean Bailey – Senior 8 Vernon Spellman – Sophomore 9 Marquise Brown – Freshman 12 Percy Croffie – Senior 16 Kris Durham – Sophomore 18 A.J. Bryant – Senior 26 Tony Wilson – Freshman 27 Mikey Henderson – Senior 28 Israel Troupe – Freshman 80 Walter Hill – Freshman 82 Michael Moore – Sophomore 83 T.J. Gartrell – Senior 84 Zach Renner – Freshman 85 Demiko Goodman – Junior 87 Aron White – Freshman 88 Kenneth Harris – Junior
Tight ends 46 Jeff Potterbaum – Sophomore 81 NaDerris Ward – Freshman 84 Casey Nickels – Freshman 84 Coleman Watson – Senior 86 Tripp Chandler – Junior 89 Bruce Figgins – Freshman Offensive line 44 Josh Sailors – Freshman 54 Tanner Strickland – Freshman 60 Clint Boling – Freshman 61 John Potts – Freshman 63 Chris Davis – Freshman 66 Micky White – Freshman 67 Chester Adams – Senior 70 Scott Haverkamp – Junior 72 Vince Vance – Sophomore 73 Chris Little – Freshman 74 Kevin Perez – Freshman 75 Fernando Velasco – Senior 76 Ben Harden – Freshman 77 Trinton Sturdivant – Freshman 78 Josh Davis – Freshman
Defensive line 38 Marcus Howard – Senior 41 Roderick Battle – Sophomore 45 Tripp Taylor – Sophomore 55 Jeremy Lomax – Junior 56 Geno Atkins – Sophomore 58 Demarcus Dobbs – Freshman 59 Michael Lemon – Freshman 64 Kiante Tripp – Freshman 67 Chester Adams – Senior 68 Wes Jacobs – Sophomore 69 Andrew Gully – Sophomore 73 Shawn Biron - “Senior” 71 Justin Lyles – Senior 79 Justin Anderson – Freshman 90 Corvey Irvin – Junior 91 Kade Weston – Sophomore 92 Neland Ball – Freshman 93 David White – Freshman 95 Jeff Owens – Junior 97 Brandon Wood – Freshman 98 Ricardo Crawford – Freshman 99 Jarius Wynn – Junior Linebackers 12 Brandon Miller – Senior 29 Ryan Rearden – Freshman 33 Dannell Ellerbe – Junior 35 Rennie Curran – Freshman 37 Mitchell Pittman – Senior 42 Justin Houston – Freshman 43 Charles White – Freshman 44 Marcus Washington – Junior 46 Ukoha Kalu – Freshman 49 Patrick Williams – Senior 50 Darryl Gamble – Freshman 51 Akeem Dent – Freshman 52 Darius Dewberry – Sophomore 53 Chris Gaunder – Senior 54 Justin Respress – Freshman 57 Benjamin Boyd – Junior 61 Justin Fields – Freshman 65 Will Sullivan – Freshman
Defensive backs 8 Eric Elliot – Freshman 25 Vance Cuff – Freshman 27 Molloy VanGorder – Freshman
Cornerbacks 2 Asher Allen – Sophomore 3 Bryan Evans – Sophomore 10 Donavon Baldwin – Sophomore 11 Ramarcus Brown – Junior 16 Chad Gloer – Freshman 23 Prince Miller – Sophomore 26 Christian Norton – Freshman 29 Thomas Flowers – Senior Safeties 4 Andrew Johnson – Freshman 5 CJ Byrd – Junior 9 Reshad Jones – Freshman 15 Rowdy Francis – Junior 17 Antavious Coates – Sophomore 18 Brad Arsenault – Junior 24 Robby Bost – Sophomore 30 Kelin Johnson – Senior 31 Quintin Banks – Freshman 32 John Knox – Freshman 47 Andrew Williams – Senior
Punters 13 Drew Butler – Freshman 32 Brian Mimbs – Junior 95 Chris Rogers – Freshman
Kickers 22 Bo Stansell – Freshman 28 Ben Wilson – Senior 93 Andy Bailey – Senior 96 Brandon Coutu – Senior
Long snappers 57 Andrew Davis – Freshman 58 Matthew DeGenova – Freshman 59 Bo Fowler – Junior 65 Jeff Henson – Junior
References